Serbia and Canada seize control

NO NEED FOR NOVAK:Serbia’s non-playing captain had considered playing Novak Djokovic in the doubles, but his decision to go with 338th-ranked Ilija Bozoljac paid off

Reuters

Fans hoist “Fatheads” of Mike and Bob Bryan as they play Ilija Bozoljac and Nenad Zimonjic in the third rubber of the Davis Cup tie between the US and Serbia on Saturday at Taco Bell Arena in Boise, Idaho.

Photo: AFP

Serbia and Canada both won marathon doubles matches on Saturday to seize control of their Davis Cup quarter-finals in North America.

Both matches were decided in the 28th game of the fifth and final set as Serbia grabbed a 2-1 lead over the US in Idaho and Canada led Italy by the same score in Vancouver.

Argentina won their doubles rubber against France in Buenos Aires to also snatch a 2-1 lead.

The result left the visitors on the verge of victory with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic set to play in the first of yesterday’s two singles matches.

Serbia’s non-playing captain Bogdan Obradovic had considered playing Djokovic in the doubles, but decided to go with Bozoljac, ranked 338th in the world, to keep his best player fresh.

“I know that I had that in myself,” Bozoljac said. “I knew that if I give my 100 percent for one match, I can play on a really high level and I can match up with these good players.”

There was more drama across the border when Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil beat Fabio Fognini and Daniele Bracciali 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 3-6, 15-13 after nearly four-and-a-half hours.

The win left Canada needing to win just one of yesterday’s two reverse singles rubbers to reach the elite World Group semi-finals for the first time.

The Argentine pairing of David Nalbandian and Horacio Zeballos recovered from a set down then a 5-2 deficit in the third set to beat Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra 3-6, 7-6, 7-5 (7/3), 6-3.

The Europeans started the tie as favorites and despite needing to win both reverse singles, French captain Arnaud Clement was still hopeful.

“The two matches tomorrow will be just as hard to win for the Argentines,” he told reporters. “I’m still confident, we still have our chances to pass this round. If we want to win the Cup we have to be able to turn this situation around.”